Finland Finances Two TUI ships

Arrangements have been made to ensure that the Turku shipyards of STX Finland will be able to deliver two ships ordered by the German TUI cruise line, Finland’s Ministry of Employment and the Economy said on Friday.

The two cruise liners are slated for a 2014-2015 completion date.

The parties participating in the agreement are the State of Finland, German shipping company TUI Cruises and the Korean-owned STX Europe.

The Finnish government expects to put 31 million euros in subsidies toward construction, and 9.6 million has been used so far.

Finnvera, a state-owned financing company, pledged up to 292 million euros for the period that the ships are under construction.